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Review
. 2020 Oct 14;7(1):49.
doi: 10.1186/s40779-020-00279-z.

Coronaviruses and gastrointestinal diseases

Xi Luo  1   2 , Guan-Zhou Zhou  1 , Yan Zhang  1 , Li-Hua Peng  1 , Li-Ping Zou  2 , Yun-Sheng Yang  3
Affiliations
Review

Coronaviruses and gastrointestinal diseases

Xi Luo et al. Mil Med Res. .

Abstract

The effects of coronaviruses on the respiratory system are of great concern, but their effects on the digestive system receive much less attention. Coronaviruses that infect mammals have shown gastrointestinal pathogenicity and caused symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting. Available data have shown that human coronaviruses, including the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2, mainly infect the respiratory system and cause symptoms such as cough and fever, while they may generate gastrointestinal symptoms. However, there is little about the relation between coronavirus and digestive system. This review specifically addresses the effects of mammalian and human coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, on the digestive tract, helping to cope with the new virus infection-induced disease, COVID-19.

Keywords: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); Digestive system; Human coronaviruses; Mammal coronaviruses.

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Conflict of interest statement

The funder had no role in the study design, data collection, and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest in this study.

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